State ex rel. Lewis v. Smith

63 N.E. 25, 158 Ind. 543, 1902 Ind. LEXIS 178
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 28, 1902
DocketNo. 19,752
StatusPublished
Cited by38 cases

This text of 63 N.E. 25 (State ex rel. Lewis v. Smith) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Lewis v. Smith, 63 N.E. 25, 158 Ind. 543, 1902 Ind. LEXIS 178 (Ind. 1902).

Opinions

Gillett, J.

This is an action of mandamus instituted by the appellant’s relators against the appellee. The appellee filed a demurrer to the application and alternative writ, which was sustained by the court below. To this ruling the relators excepted, and refused to plead further, and from the final judgment against them, that was subsequently. rendered, they prosecute this appeal.

Counsel discuss but one question in this case, namely, the constitutionality of an act of the General Assembly of this State entitled, “An act concerning the taxation of real estate [544]*544encumbered by mortgage, and declaring an emergency.” Acts 1899, p. 422, §8417a et seq. Burns 1901, §6272a et seq. Horner 1901. The first three sections of the act are as follows:

Section 1. “Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, That any person being the owner of real estate liable for taxation within the State of Indiana, and being indebted in any sum, secured by mortgage upon real estate, may have the amount of such mortgage indebtedness, not exceeding $700, existing and unpaid upon the first day of April in any year, deducted from the assessed valuation of mortgage premises for that year, and the amount of such valuation remaining after such deduction shall have been made shall form the basis for assessment and taxation for said real estate for said year. Provided, That no deduction shall be allowed greater than one-half of such assessed valuation of said real estate. Section 2. Any person desiring to avail himself, or herself, of the provisions of this act shall, between the first day of March and the first day of May of each year, file with the auditor of the county wherein said real estate is situated a sworn statement of the amount of such mortgage indebtedness existing and unpaid on the first day of March of that year, giving the name and residence of the mortgagee, and shall also give the name and residence of the assignee or bona fide owner or bolder of said mortgage, if known, and if not known, said person shall state that fact, and shall also state the record and page where said mortage is recorded, and a brief description of the real estate upon which such incumbrance exists. Section 3. the county auditor with whom such statement is filed, in case the money, notes or credits evidenced by such mortgage indebtedness be liable for taxation in any county in the State of Indiana, other than the one wherein such real estate is situate, shall immediately certify and transmit a copy of such sworn statement to the auditor of the county wherein the mortgagee, assignee or bona fide bolder or [545]*545owner of said mortgage resides, or wherein the money, notes or credits evidenced by such mortgage is otherwise taxable.” The fourth section of the act prescribes a penalty for wilfully making a false statement under section two thereof. The fifth and last section declares the existence of an emergency for the- immediate taking effect of the act.

Counsel for appellee claim that the act in question is unconstitutional and they especially insist that it contravenes §1 of article 10 of our State Constitution. That section is as follows: “The General Assembly shall provide, by law, for a uniform and equal rate of assessment and taxation; and shall prescribe such regulations as shall secure a just valuation for taxation of all property, both real and personal, excepting such only, for municipal, educational, literary, scientific, religious, or charitable purposes, as may be especially exempted by law.”

We approach the consideration of this case with a deep sense of its importance, not only because constitutional questions are involved, but because we realize that this act, if upheld, will be a large factor in our revenue system. The people, in their grant of power to the agencies of government, ordained that “the powers of government are divided into three separate departments: the legislative, the executive, including the administrative, and the judicial.” Constitution §1, art. 3. These departments are coordinate. The Constitution requires that any person elected or appointed to any office thereunder shall, before entering on the duties thereof, take an oath or affirmation to support such Constitution. §4 art. 15. The judiciary do not lay claim to a conscience that is quickened beyond that of any other official. The courts do not sit for the purpose of revising or obstructing legislative action, but to enforce the legislative will. Where, however, an enactment of the General Assembly falls without the domain of legislative power, or impinges on the limitations with which the people, in their [546]*546sovereign capacity, have hedged the grant of legislative power about, a court that sits to apply the law as between litigants refuses to enforce it, because the judge, acting on the responsibility of his oath, must enforce the will of the people as declared in their primal social compact, rather than the will of their agent in another department of the government. The task of declaring a legislative enactment unconstitutional is at once both solemn and delicate, and, while the courts will not decline this responsibility, yet they approach such a duty in a spirit of profound caution and circumspection, and with a disposition to enforce the legislative will by resolving all ultimate reasonable doubts in its favor. It is with this disposition of mind that we approach this question.

The power of taxation is an incident of sovereignty, and is possessed by the government without being expressly conferred by the people. State Board, etc., v. Holliday, 150 Ind. 216. The power belongs to that class of powers known as political powers, and while, in the genesis of popular government, it was occasionally exercised by the executive branch of the government, yet it is now well settled that the power of taxation is purely a legislative function. State Board, etc., v. Holliday, supra; Union Tel. Co. v. Mayer, 28 Ohio St. 521. “The extent to which it [the taxing power] shall be exercised, the subjects upon which it shall be exercised, and the mode in which it shall be exercised, are all equally within the discretion of the legislatures to which the states commit the exercise of the power. The discretion is restrained only by the will of the people, expressed in the state constitutions or through elections, and by the condition that it must not be so used as to burden or embarrass the operations of the National Government.” Lane County v. State of Oregon, 7 Wall. 71, 77, 19 L. Ed. 101. And see, also, Sharpless v. Mayor of Philadelphia, 21 Pa. St. 147, 160, 59 Am. Dec. 759. This, doctrine is even more forcibly stated by Judge Cooley in his work on [547]*547Taxation (p. 5). He there says: “Everything to which the legislative power extends may he the subject of taxation, whether it he person or property, or possession, franchise or privilege, or occupation or right. Nothing hut express constitutional limitation upon legislative authority can exclude anything to which the authority extends from the grasp of the taxing power, if the legislature in its discretion shall at any time select it for revenue purposes. And not only is the power unlimited in its reach as to subjects, hut in its very nature it acknowledges no limits, and may he carried to any extent which the government may find expedient. It may therefore he employed again and again upon the same subjects, even to the extent of exhaustion and destruction, and may thus become in its exercise a power to destroy.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Merrillville 2548, Inc. v. BMO Harris Bank N.A.
39 N.E.3d 382 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2015)
Majestic Star Casino, LLC v. Blumenburg
817 N.E.2d 322 (Indiana Tax Court, 2004)
Department of Local Government Finance v. Griffin
784 N.E.2d 448 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2003)
Griffin v. Department of Local Government Finance
765 N.E.2d 716 (Indiana Tax Court, 2002)
Inland Container Corp. v. State Board of Tax Commissioners
756 N.E.2d 1109 (Indiana Tax Court, 2001)
State Board of Tax Commissioners v. Town of St. John
702 N.E.2d 1034 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1998)
Town of St. John v. State Board of Tax Commissioners
665 N.E.2d 965 (Indiana Tax Court, 1996)
GTE North Inc. v. State Board of Tax Commissioners
634 N.E.2d 882 (Indiana Tax Court, 1994)
Indiana Department of State Revenue v. Endress & Hauser, Inc.
404 N.E.2d 1173 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1980)
Indiana Department of State Revenue v. Food Marketing Corp.
403 N.E.2d 1093 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1980)
Hawkins v. Marion County Board of Review
394 N.E.2d 957 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1979)
Sulcer v. Northwestern National Ins.
566 S.W.2d 397 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1978)
Indiana Aeronautics Commission v. Ambassadair, Inc.
368 N.E.2d 1340 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1977)
Indiana State Board of Tax Commissioners v. Lyon & Greenleaf Co.
359 N.E.2d 931 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1977)
Franks v. Davis
145 So. 2d 228 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1962)
Indiana Department of State Revenue v. Colpaert Realty Corp.
109 N.E.2d 415 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1952)
Oldham v. Noble
66 N.E.2d 614 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1946)
State Ex Rel. Jones v. Nolte
165 S.W.2d 632 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1942)
Lutz, Atty.-Gen. v. Arnold, Atty. Tr.
193 N.E. 840 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1935)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
63 N.E. 25, 158 Ind. 543, 1902 Ind. LEXIS 178, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-lewis-v-smith-ind-1902.